 Review by rtcpenguin 
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 2018 visits, last login: 44 days ago
 Fairfax,Fairfax,VA
 $56 per month
 about 25 days
 "No contract"
 "Constant outages, slow when online, incompetent techs"
 "Expensive, worthless service. GET DSL!"
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(ratings below consensus)
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In July of 2000, I began an online gaming craze (Half-life TFC) that led me to believe I needed a high-speed connection. I began browsing the internet searching for ISPs and found that Cox Cable, my cable TV provider was offering Cable internet at discounted prices for their TV subscribers. I gave them a call on the 5th of July and they promptly gave me an installation date and time one week later. They showed up on time and had the modem, NIC and additional cable line installed in about one hour. As soon as it connected, I was getting downloads of between 150-300 kb/s (although it did slow slightly during the peak usage hours of 6-11PM). The contract was for Up to 1.5 Mbps downstream and 192 Kbps upstream, but I understand that cable is a shared connection, and unfortunately I cannot hog all the bandwidth. It’s been about a year and I have only had one prolonged outage problem, and it was partly my fault. Cox had stupidly buried the cable line about one inch underground without telling me. I was roto-tilling my lawn and the blades grazed the line in about 15 places. I didn't know I had damaged the line until I tried to get online and of course, couldn't. So I called up the Cox (lol) and they dispatched a crew of about 15 people (4 trucks) the following day at their expense. Unfortunately, the idiot they sent up on a ladder to install a new line practically cut his own finger off with a utility blade, so they were scurrying around like squirrels not doing any work that trip. They all went back to the HQ and returned after the weekend. They finally got the new line installed and speed was just as good as ever, rating at 1 MB/s down and 100kb/s up. They just upgraded to Digital Cable in my area, and now speeds have increased an additional 100 kb/s down and 50 kb/s up, although my TV bill increased about $10. Overall, they provide reliable, fast service, at a good price (for those that use their Cable TV service), although they do some stupid things now and then. Highly recommend them!
*UPDATE*
I haven't been using my RR connection lately because I am now on JMU's LAN or sometimes local dial-up (when the LAN is being worked on). However, I understand that Cox (RR) is now transferring all their customers in my area to an AOL line that will be slightly slower. This is terrible timing, since the semester is over in 3 weeks. I called COX and requested that the monthly cost be reduced to compensate for our downgraded service--I have gotten no response as of one week later. As soon as we are switched over, I will post the speed results.
*UPDATE 10/30/02 *
Well after the switch to the AOL line, everything went to hell. The line was unreliable, sometimes going out for days on end. Even when it was active, the line was slower than my nieghbor's 56k and the packet loss equally ridiculous. I am currently not living in the same house, but from what I understand, we have dumped Cox and may be getting Earthlink DSL...avoid COX at all costs!!!!!!
UPDATE 8/21/2008
I moved into a new place and (stupidly) decided to give Cox's internet another try. The tech screwed up the installation (left the wrong equipment), didn't install a splitter to route cable to my computer room. Cox charged me $30 for the botched install despite the fact they stated there would be no installation charge. Customer service basically called me a liar about the "no install charge", and I had to threaten to cancel to get it refunded. (Threatening to cancel is the only way to get customer support within 15 minutes, otherwise you are stuck listening to some annoying 20 second sound bite interrupted every few minutes by a voice you'll think is a CSR, but is actually automated) Download speeds are pretty slow (2-5 mbit) for the "premier" (highest end) package and latency is mediocre. I've lost service for about 2 hours twice within the first two weeks of regular use. I plan on switching to FIOS as soon as it is available in my area. Thank god I didn't sign a contract with these clowns.
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